Constantine Diogenes

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Konstantin Diogenes or Konstantinos Diogenes, on ( Greek : Κωνσταντῖνος Διογένης ) († 1032/34) was a Byzantine military leader, made a significant contribution to bringing the First Bulgarian Empire under Byzantine control, was governor of Sirmium , Dandux and the highest military Thessaloniki , Bulgaria and Serbia . He was the father of Romanus IV Diogenes , Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (1068-1072).

origin

Konstantinos came from an old and respected Byzantine aristocratic family Diogenes, who were wealthy in Cappadocia in Central Anatolia in what is now Turkey and who are documented as early as 788. Constantine was a son of the Strategos (military governor) of Morava, Adralestos Diogenes (* c. 960, † c. 1015) and the Ne Philomatia. His grandfather, Diogenes Adralestos († n. 970), was a nephew of Nikephorus II Phocas , Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (963–969).

Life

Rise and Success

Following the family tradition, Konstantinos entered the military service of the Byzantine Empire, continuing the rise of his family to the front row of the aristocracy. He began his career during the reign of Basil II , known as "Bulgaroktonos" (the Bulgarian slayer), emperor of the Byzantine Empire (976-1025) from the Macedonian dynasty , as the commander of a western military district, who served him in the campaigns against the Bulgarian Empire and contributed to the fact that by 1005 the provinces of Thessaly , Macedonia and central Greece could be recaptured by the Bulgarians.

In 1014 he took part as one of the leading Byzantine generals alongside Nikephoros Xiphias and Theophylaktos Botaniates in the decisive battle of Kleidion in the valley of the Strymon (near today's city of Petritsch ) on July 29th , in which the army of Samuil , the tsar of the Bulgarians (997-1014), was crushed. As a deterrent, Emperor Basil II ordered the 14,000 or so Bulgarian prisoners of war to be blinded and marched to Samuil's residence near Prespa. A one-eyed man had to lead 100 blind comrades. Tsar Samuil was able to save himself from the battlefield on his son's horse and escape to Prespa, but died shortly after seeing the misery of his 15,000 blinded warriors and losing his mind.

With the active participation of Diogenes, Basil II continued the war against the successors of Samuil, the Bulgarian tsars Gavril Radomir (1014-1015), Ivan Wladislaw (1015-1018) and Presian II (1018). In recognition of his services, Diogenes was raised by the emperor to patricios and appointed strategos (military governor) of the Thessaloniki theme and thus - after David Arianites - the second highest officer in the Byzantine armed forces.

The historian Georgios Kedrenos reports that Constantine Diogenes, the successor of Theophylactus Botaneiates, who was ambushed by the Bulgarians after a foray and was killed, was appointed governor of the province of Thessaloniki and sent to the Moglena region to attend the tsar Gavril Radomir defeat.

In 1017, Emperor Basilius undertook a large-scale invasion of Bulgaria with the aim of conquering the city of Kastoria (in Western Macedonia , Greece ) which controlled the road between Thessaly and the coast of present-day Albania . He sent parts of his army under the generals Diogenes and David Arianites to plunder the region of Pelagonia (today in the south of North Macedonia ), while he himself - in vain - besieged Kastoria. According to the report of the historian Johannes Skylitzes, Diogenes and his troops were caught in a Bulgarian ambush and would have been lost if Emperor Basilius had not saved him by personally attacking the Bulgarians at the head of his troops, whereupon they withdrew in a panic.

Diogenes was able to achieve the greatest military success in 1018 when he defeated the troops of Tsar Ivan Wladislaw , who was besieging Dyrrhachium , in open field battle, whereby the capital Ohrid and also Marija, the widow of Tsar Ivan Wladislaw and their children fell into his hands. Georgios Kedrenos reports that Constantine Diogenes, Duke of Thessaloniki, defeated Tsar Ivan Wladislaw on January 9th. The tsar's death shortly thereafter practically sealed the end of the First Bulgarian Empire , as its sons were minors and many Bulgarian greats submitted to the emperor. At the same time, this meant the end of the territorial unity of the former Bulgarian Empire, as it was broken up into several provinces (themes) and reintegrated into the Byzantine Empire.

A little later Diogenes was the Byzantine governor in Belgrade and was commissioned by Emperor Basileios to subjugate Seremon (Sermon), the voivodes (duke) of the province of Syrmia , in order to secure Byzantine control over the northern Balkans. Seremon was the last vassal of the Bulgarian tsar who refused to recognize the Byzantine supremacy and even had gold coins minted in his own name. Diogenes then invited Seremon to negotiations that were to take place at the confluence of the Danube and Sava. However, this was a trap: Seremon was captured and killed by the soldiers of Diogenes while leaving his boat.

Diogenes was appointed archon (governor) of the subject Sirmium for his services in 1018 , whereby his authority extended over the small states of Raszien (Serbia). His residence was in the capital Sirmium, the remains of which are in the area of ​​today's town of Sremska Mitrovica . His title at that time was therefore possibly στρατηγός Σερβίας , ie strategos of (medieval) Serbia, a designation that appears on a seal that is ascribed to him. The Byzantine lawyer and historian Johannes Zonaras states in his main work, the "Epitome Historion", that Diogenes, the governor of Sirmium, who is also called Duke of Bulgaria, brought Bulgaria under Byzantine control.

Around 1022 Diogenes followed David Arianites as "Strategos autocrator" of Bulgaria, ie as commander in chief of the regional strategists in the northern Balkans (Sirmium, Raszien and Dyrrhachium ). In this capacity he managed to repel an invasion of the Pechenegs in 1027 .

In the same year he was given the function of Dux (Duke) of the Thessaloniki theme . However, he retained his function as commander-in-chief, as evidenced by a seal from him in which he calls himself "Anthypathos (about: Proconsul / Governor), Patrikios and Dux of Thessaloniki, Bulgaria and Serbia".

Crash and death

Diogenes was with a niece of the Emperor Romanos III. Argyros (1028-1034) married, but was accused in 1029, together with other prominent generals, including the last Bulgarian heir to the throne Presjan , with the "porphyrogenita" (the purple-born) Theodora, the daughter of the emperor, to conspire against this. He was then by Emperor Romanus III. removed from his previous offices and transferred to the subject of Thrakesion as a strategist . Soon after, however, he was recalled to Constantinople , where he was imprisoned and later blinded to make it impossible for him to assume a government function. Theodora, for her part, was banished to a monastery, from where she continued to conspire with Diogenes, who intended to use the emperor's absence on a military expedition to the east to flee to the Balkans. The escape succeeded, but the plan was betrayed by Theophanos, the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki to Emperor Romanos and Diogenes was captured again by his troops. Diogenes was brought to the Blachernenpalast to be "questioned" by Johannes Orphanotrophos , the talented but unscrupulous eunuch who had become minister under Emperor Constantine VIII (1025-1028) (brother of the later emperor of Byzantium, Michael IV ) . to become. However, he committed suicide so as not to divulge the names of his co-conspirators under torture. According to Kedrenus , he did this by throwing himself from a tower in Thrace. According to the Byzantine historian Michael Psellos , however, Diogenes fell into an abyss.

family

Constantine Diogenes married Ne Argyra, a niece (daughter of a brother) of Emperor Romanos III. Argyros .

Child: Constantine Diogenes had only one known child from his marriage:

oo 1.) 1045/50 Anna Alusiane princess of the Bulgarians (* 1030, + v. 1065), daughter of Alusian Tsar of the Bulgarians (1041)

oo 2.) Eudokia Makrembolitissa , (* 1021, † 1096) widow of Emperor Constantine X. Dukas (1059-1067), daughter of Johannes Makrembolites and niece of Patriarch Michael I. Kerularios of Constantinople.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Christian Settipani : Continuité des Élites á Byzance durant les Siécles obscurs. Les Princes Caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe Siécle. De Brocard, Paris 2006, ISBN 978-2-7018-0226-8 , p. 82.
  2. ↑ a b Kazhdan (1991), p. 627.
  3. ↑ Stephenson (2000), p. 71.
  4. ↑ Stephenson (2000), p. 66.
  5. ↑ FMG Byzantium 1057-1204: Diogenes, note 513: Cedrenus II, col. 194
  6. ↑ FMG Byzantium 1057 - 1204: Diogenes, note 521: Cedrenus II, col. 199
  7. ↑ Holmes (2005), pp. 233-234
  8. ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 528.
  9. ↑ Stephenson (2000), p. 74; Stephenson (2003), p. 39.
  10. ↑ FMG Byzantium 1057 - 1204: Diogenes, note 520: Zonaras II, Liber XVII, X, col. 172
  11. ↑ Stephenson (2000), p. 81; Stephenson (2003), pp. 44-45
  12. ↑ Stephenson (2000), p. 124; Stephenson (2003), p. 45.
  13. ↑ Garland (1999), pp. 161-162
  14. ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 584.
  15. ↑ Garland (1999), p. 162.
  16. ^ Treadgold (1997), p. 585.
  17. ↑ FMG Byzantium 1057 - 1204: Diogenes, note 523: Cedrenus II, col. 219.
  18. ↑ FMG Byzantium 1057–1204: Diogenes, note 524: Psellos, p. 350.
  19. ^ Charles Cawley: Medieval Lands, Byzantium 1057-1204. Chapter 3: Diogenes Emperor 1068-1071. In: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy.
personal data
SURNAME Constantine Diogenes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Κωνσταντῖνος Διογένης (grc)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Byzantine general and governor
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century
DATE OF DEATH 1032 or 1034